Talking Heads are continuing to mark their 50th anniversary with an expanded edition of ‘More Songs About Buildings and Food’ on the way next.
‘More Songs About Buildings and Food’ was the second Talking Heads album. It reached no 29 in the USA and no 46 in Australia. The album also established the band for the first time on commercial radio with their cover of Al Green’s ‘Take Me To The River’.
‘More Songs About Buildings and Food’ started a three album collaboration with Brian Eno who crafted the sound of the band. “To our great relief, [Eno] realized we were a tight live band at this point, so it made sense to record us all playing together in the studio,” singer David Byrne says. “We weren’t all that comfortable in a recording studio, so this arrangement made us comfortable and put us at ease.”
Chris Frantz says it was Eno’s idea to slow down ‘Take Me To The River’ to the tempo we now know on the album. “We were used to playing the song at a pretty fast tempo like Al Green’s original, but we gave it a go,” he writes. “After several takes, we got what he was looking for, and everyone loved his treatment of the snare drum. This song became our first radio hit.”
Talking Heads first met with Brian Eno in London. “When we went over to his flat, there was the immediacy of recognizing in his library books [and records] from our own collections,” recalls Jerry Harrison. “There was both mutual respect and a sense of shared sensibilities—all harbingers of a comfortable and successful collaboration.”
The iconic cover of the album is a series of polaroids taken by Byrne and Tina Weymouth. Tina says, “David took the pictures of Chris, Jerry, and me, while I took the pictures of David. We used a close-up attachment and a red cloth for the backdrop. It was shot on the roof above Chris’s and my Long Island City loft. I still have that camera!”
The 3CD/1Blu-ray Super Deluxe Edition features the remastered album alongside 11 rarities, including four previously unreleased alternate versions of album tracks. One of those, “Found A Job,” is available digitally today ahead of the full release. Listen Now.
The set also includes a live recording of the band’s August 1978 show at New York’s Entermedia Theatre. Footage from that show and another at Sproul Plaza at the University of California, Berkeley, both appear on the Blu-ray. Additionally, there are Dolby ATMOS and 5.1 surround sound mixes by E.T. Thorngren and group member Jerry Harrison, plus a high-resolution stereo version of the album. A 60-page hardcover book rounds out the package, with previously unseen photos and new liner notes with recollections from Tina Weymouth, David Byrne, Chris Frantz, and Harrison.
A 4LP vinyl version of the Super Deluxe Edition, also available July 25, features the remastered album, rarities, and the New York concert recordings. A second version—available exclusively at TalkingHeadsOfficial.com—includes reissues of four international 7” singles: U.S., U.K., and Japanese versions of “Take Me To The River,” plus “The Good Thing,” from the Netherlands. Each comes in a reproduction picture sleeve, all packaged alongside the 4LP set in a custom die-cut folio. Pre-order HERE.
Additional Deluxe Editions will be available on 2LP black vinyl with a red vinyl pressing offered at TakingHeadsOfficial.com and select indie retailers. Both feature the remastered album and a selection of rarities.
MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD (SUPER DELUXE EDITION)
3CD/1BR Track Listing
CD One: Original Album (2025 Remaster)
“Thank You For Sending Me An Angel”
“With Our Love”
“The Good Thing”
“Warning Sign”
“The Girls Want To Be With The Girls”
“Found A Job”
“Artists Only”
“I’m Not In Love”
“Stay Hungry”
“Take Me To The River”
“The Big Country”
CD Two: Rarities
“Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” (Alternate Version)
“With Our Love” (Alternate Version) *
“Found A Job” (Alternate Version) *
“The Good Thing” (Alternate Version) *
“Warning Sign” (Alternate Version)
“Electricity” (Instrumental)
“The Girls Want To Be With The Girls” (Alternate Version) *
“I’m Not In Love” (Alternate Version)
“Artists Only” (Alternate Version)
“The Big Country” (Alternate Version)
“Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” (“Country Angel” Version)
CD Three: Live At Entermedia Theater, New York, NY (August 10, 1978)
“No Compassion” *
“Warning Sign” *
“The Book I Read” *
“Stay Hungry” *
“Artists Only” *
“The Girls Want To Be With The Girls” *
“Uh-Oh, Loves Comes To Town” *
“With Our Love” *
“Love Goes To A Building On Fire” *
“Don’t Worry About The Government” *
“The Good Thing” *
“Electricity”*
“The Big Country” *
“New Feeling” *
“Pulled Up” *
“Psycho Killer” *
“Take Me To The River” *
“Found A Job” *
“Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” *
Blu-Ray
Audio: Hi-Res Stereo, 5.1 & Atmos Mix of original album (2025 Remaster)
Video: Concert Footage
Live at Entermedia Theater, 1978
“Uh-Oh, Loves Comes To Town” *
“The Girls Want To Be With The Girls” *
“The Good Thing” *
“Take Me To The River” *
“Found A Job” *
“Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” *
Live At Sproul Plaza (Berkeley), 1978
“The Big Country” *
“Warning Sign” *
“The Book I Read” *
“Stay Hungry” *
“Artists Only” *
“The Girls Want To Be With The Girls” *
“The Good Thing” *
“Uh-Oh, Loves Comes To Town” *
“Psycho Killer” *
“I’m Not In Love” *
“Pulled Up” *
MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD (SUPER DELUXE EDITION)
4LP Track Listing
LP One: Original Album (2025 Remaster)
Side One
“Thank You For Sending Me An Angel”
“With Our Love”
“The Good Thing”
“Warning Sign”
“The Girls Want To Be With The Girls”
“Found A Job”
Side Two
“Artists Only”
“I’m Not In Love”
“Stay Hungry”
“Take Me To The River”
“The Big Country”
LP Two: Rarities
Side One
“Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” (Alternate Version)
“With Our Love” (Alternate Version) *
“Found A Job” (Alternate Version) *
“The Good Thing” (Alternate Version) *
“Warning Sign” (Alternate Version)
“Electricity” (Instrumental)
Side Two
“The Girls Want To Be With The Girls” (Alternate Version) *
“I’m Not In Love” (Alternate Version)
“Artists Only” (Alternate Version)
“The Big Country” (Alternate Version)
“Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” (“Country Angel” Version)
LP Three: Live At Entermedia Theater, New York, NY (August 10, 1978)
Side One
“No Compassion” *
“Warning Sign” *
“The Book I Read” *
“Stay Hungry” *
“Artists Only” *
Side Two
“The Girls Want To Be With The Girls” *
“Uh-Oh, Loves Comes To Town” *
“With Our Love” *
“Love Goes To A Building On Fire” *
“Don’t Worry About The Government” *
“The Good Thing” *
LP Four
Side One
“Electricity”*
“The Big Country” *
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